An Inside Look at Opening Week for ENCHANTED APRIL at the Little Theatre

Happy Friday everyone! Patty Thayer here. 

You know, the new girl. 

I have now been sitting at my desk upstairs at the Little Theatre since March 18th - four full weeks. Well, not 24 hours a day, obviously, but you get the idea. I've been on the job for one month now and I love it. I've been a theatre "junkie" all of  my life and a big fan of the Little Theatre for many years now, but I had no idea how much activity could be crammed into this one little building until this month. So, as we get ready to open Enchanted April tonight, I thought it might be fun to share an insider's view of opening week at the Little Theatre, Are you ready? 

Sunday - Dress Parade and Tech Rehearsal

Not your usual lazy Sunday. Production week begins on Sunday afternoon at the Little Theatre with a dress parade and a full tech rehearsal. A dress parade is when the actors try on different costumes for the director, just making sure everything looks good individually and collectively. Sharon Woodside does a great job with the costumes, don't you think? Following the dress parade was the first full tech rehearsal:  partial costumes, partial set, lights and sound. We have a show ladies and gentlemen!

Monday - Office Work, Teen Mommalogues and Rehearsal

Currently, we are in the midst of "the collision of the seasons" here at SLOLT. That's when we're still working very hard on the current season - promotions, rehearsal, production, etc. - but we're also working very hard planning the next season! Choosing shows, securing the rights, planning the budget, confirming sponsorships... all of it. Would you like to know the shows for next season? Sorry. Can't tell you yet. But soon, I promise!

But it's not just office work around here. This place is filled with theatrical activities every day of the week. Every Monday and Wednesday afternoon, a group of teens come together with director John Battalino to work on Teen Mommalogues, a program of the Community Action Partnership of SLO. It's a great program and a great partnership. You can read more about it HERE.

And of course on Monday evening, musical rehearsals for The Sound of Music started at 6 pm in the rehearsal room while at the same time, the first real dress rehearsal for Enchanted April began in the theatre. Let me tell you, if you're working upstairs when all this going on, it's pretty awesome.

Tuesday and Wednesday - Kids, Classes and Rehearsals

Mornings at my little upstairs desk are pretty quiet. A good time to get things like writing this blog done! But afternoons at the Little Theatre are quite a different matter. Afternoons currently belong to the Academy of Creative Theatre's after school classes. ACT Coordinator Kerry DiMaggio has created an amazing program, utilizing the talents of local theatre artists to provide our students with fun, educational and creative theatre training. You can read more about our ACT program HERE.

At the same time classes are going in the theatre, Technical Director and set designer Dave Linfield is using the patio area to create and paint set pieces and prop master Charlene Premer is backstage arranging props for the evening rehearsal and costumer Sharon Woodside is putting finishing touches on the 1920's style wardrobe for Enchanted April and Sound of Music director Zach Johnson is working with the set model and staging in the green room. Around 5 o'clock, stage manager Pam Hester gets here to set up for the final tech rehearsal. Like I said, it's a busy place! 

Thursday - Benefit Night!

This amazing week of work culminated with our Benefit Night dress rehearsal last night. Did you know that in the last 10 years, the Little Theatre has raised over $50,000 for local non-profits by opening our dress rehearsals to local groups as a fundraising opportunity? Last night, as the Friends of the Atascadero Library made their way into the theatre for the final dress rehearsal of Enchanted April, I could hear the hubbub of a happy audience mingling with the sounds of Kerry DiMaggio's clear soprano voice singing "The Sound of Music" in the rehearsal room. I LOVE my upstairs office.

OPENING NIGHT!

And tonight's the night. I'll be here. How about you? It's an uplifting, hilarious and heartwarming play, brilliantly directed by Teresa Thuman and performed beautifully by a cast you're gonna love. Can't wait.

Okay, so not all of you can enjoy the action around here the way I can in my little upstairs office. But you CAN enjoy some wonderful LIVE theatre this weekend, and next, and the week after that, right here at the San Luis Obispo Little Theatre. Read more about all of our wonderful performances and programs HERE, then be sure to buy your tickets early for both Enchanted April and The Sound of Music HERE. You'll be glad you did.

And hey, do me a favor and take a little side trip over to our Facebook page. There's always lots of fun stuff happening over in Facebookland and you can join the conversation. We've currently got 1,188 "likes" and I'm hoping we'll make it over the 1,200 mark this weekend. If you haven't "liked" our page yet, do it now! And share it with friends. Thanks.

Have a great weekend everyone. Thanks for listening. And I hope to see you all at the Little Theatre very soon!

All the best from the new girl,

Patty